Rusted Eyes (Hustle Cat)
by Praetorianwarrior
Summary: Avery had a crush on all of their co-workers, and they were happy to see them all get along in...whatever they were! They hadn't felt this happy in a long time! But despite the overwhelming feeling of contentment they felt as they turned onto their street, they couldn't shake the feeling of wariness that was growing as they got closer and closer home (Avery/other employees)
1. Mixed Feelings

Avery sighed happily as they walked down the dimly lit streets towards their home. Normally Avery didn't leave this late, usually around sundown to help a bit around the cafe before heading home and feeding Mochi, but they had gotten a little... _preoccupied_ at work.

Most of it was their fault, admittedly. Their relationship with the other work buddies at the cafe was both one of the best, and worst, secrets at the cafe. It wasn't their fault! Everyone was just so _cute_ in their own way!

Landry and his gentle giant nature with a fashion for construction. his caring personality never failed to make Avery feel better.

Hayes with his adorable coffee art and nervous habits that always made Avery want to dote over him like a mama bird.

Reese with his open attitude but who always was the most flustered in the room if they did anything cute or romantic together.

Finley with her fun loving yet caring attitude towards them who and always seemed to permeate a room in energy and playfulness.

And Mason, the strong and quiet chef who could make everybody listen if she had something to say. The buff woman who could bench press two of Avery and not get tired, yet who only used her strength around Avery to have fun with them, or push them into a wall to kiss them.

It was one of the best kept secrets because no one outside of the cafe had any idea it was going on. But it was also one of the worst kept secrets because everyone seemed to be in on it. There was some confusion at first from the others since the others and Avery were more than friends, but not quite dating one on one. Luckily no arguments started and no furniture was thrown (Mason and Landry seemed like the only one who could anyway) by the end of the day. It'd stay in that level of confusion for a few weeks until the others seemed to put it aside in favor of caring for Avery, who had been losing sleep and looking more haggard by the day since they found that book. Now they seemed to be in some odd...web...relationship thing. They weren't dating each other, and none of them were dating Avery, but they all acted way closer than just friends. Cuddles with them had a schedule, and each were unique in their own way.

Sometimes it was nice to be big spoon like with Hayes, Reese and sometimes Finley. And other times it was nice to be the little spoon like when they were with Landry, Mason and again sometimes Finley. They swapped positions at random. They'd cuddle on the couch one on one while the others finished up their daily chores, or were already gone in Mason's case.

Avery hadn't gone for their boss Graves. They weren't exactly enthralled with the older goth nerd, but they liked him, sort of. Not like they liked the others anyway. He had grown on them after the whole Thai dinner thing, but in more of a more familiar way. Not that it mattered, Avery had barely seen him recently besides the rusted bike incident.

The reason, or _reasons_ they had been late leaving tonight was because of the two female workers they had giant crushes on. Normally Mason left before they finished closing, but tonight was their scheduled cuddling time! Avery had made sure to check in with Mason and make sure that she was okay with staying later than normal, but Mason had been fine with it.

Her hands were rough but warm, wrapped around Avery's hands with ease. Avery found that Mason's neck was a wonderful spot to lay their head when cuddling. Mason had rested her head against the back of Avery's and would place little soft kisses against their head or neck making Avery shiver. Cuddling with someone could always put Avery to sleep. The steady breathing could draw them in without fail, but they had been determined to stay awake tonight of all nights after cuddling with Mason for a bit to help Finley with some more of her pretty nail art. She had told Avery that the viewers seemed pretty positive with the last one a little while back so she'd decided another one couldn't hurt, and the setting sun from the large windows would make the viewers feel more content and happy as they watched the video, something that confused Avery but they could agree with. Sunsets were pretty.

"Yeah, sunsets are pretty." Avery had said lamely, setting their hands on the table as Finley got her industrial sized nail polish toolkit out.

"Not as pretty as you _."_ Finley responded as she winked at Avery. They pursed their lips and made a kissy face back at her, trying to keep her attention away from their glowing cheeks. Avery was a sucker for compliments, and being complimented by one of their crushes was not good for Avery's health. Were their friends still crushes? Was Avery...dating them all? Were they in some weird middle ground never seen in recorded history? Eh, who knew.

They watched her work, admiring the little cat patterns and paw prints on one of their fingernails, utilizing her box to use different colors from last time to glaze their nails in a warm mix of red, orange and yellow. A cat here, and a tiny paw there, and before they knew it she had already finished painting and was placing the polish back in the container.

"Thanks for helping me Avery! Couldn't have done it without you! Well, I mean I _could_ but it'd be kinda awkward with one hand."

"No problem Finley. Glad I could give you a helping hand!" They were already pushing their chair in before they suddenly came to a jarring halt.

' _Oh no. No. No no no._ ' Avery turned their head to look at Finley and they could see that devious grin work itself onto her face as she turned away from her box to look at them. What had they done!?

"Wow Avery, I really have to _hand_ it to you! You're getting better at these jokes." Avery groaned and collapsed to their knees with a shattered sounding "Noooo" while burying their head in their hands. They tried in vain to tune out the rest, but there's no way you can tune out Finley.

"I'll have to remember that one, It seems really _handy._ You okay there Avery? You don't seem able to _hand-_ le this situation!" Avery groaned louder and turned away, trying to find a way out of the situation. Luckily, Finley decided to show mercy on them by interrupting her tirade of puns by giggling madly into her hand and offering the other to Avery.

"Need a _hand?"_

"Stop." They accepted the hand and stood up, taking a moment to admire the form of Finley giggling and snorting into her hand. Avery turned away for a moment to check the time, only to find the sunset already gone and replaced by a full moon. Pretty. Wait, moon? Crap, they haven't fed Mochi yet! That fat cat was probably going nuts at home!

They turned to Finley and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, taking a moment to enjoy the smell of her perfume.

"Hey, I gotta get going and go feed Mochi. See you tomorrow!" Avery turned away only to feel a hand on their chin turn their head back to face Finley. Who had hooded eyes and that devious grin on her face that made Avery gulp.

"You call that a goodbye kiss? Gimme some real sugar, baby." Avery was only too eager to meet her halfway, immensely enjoying Finley's sugar coated lips pressed against their own. They closed their eyes and wrapped their arms around Finley's neck, taking a moment to savor it while they could.

It seemed to last only a moment until they had to pull away and open their eyes, taking in the sight of Finley's blushing face which they supposed they probably matched. They took a moment to run their thumb along the back of Finley's neck, making her smile.

"See you tomorrow Avery~." They giggled and hugged her again before finally pulling away and jogging down the stairs, eyeing the Mason-less couch in the middle of the room.

' _Guess she went to her grandpa's_ ' With the whole being a cat thing still going on, they only talked when he came over for lunch, but it was better than not at all. Avery hadn't had a chance to really try and break the curse with any of them, although they knew Landry and Reese knew something about magic. Maybe they'd meet up sometime soon and try and figure it out? It'd be fun, but for now they had to get home!

Avery jogged to the entrance giving a cleaning Landry a goodbye kiss and hug before heading out. They made sure to turn him around first though to fully enjoy the feeling of having to turn their head almost completely upward to kiss the gentle giant before walking out through the double doors.

As Avery turned the corner, they felt a tense, creeping stiffness crawl up their back. Their steps slowed, each leg feeling like solid lead. They remembered this feeling. The same feeling they had when they ran into that guy in the alley who wouldn't stop staring at them. The feeling of someone standing behind them, reaching over their shoulder was there as well. Was someone behind them!?

They quickly whip around to keep anyone that might be behind them from hiding, but there's nothing. Just an empty street late at night. They turn forward and walk back faster to the apartment, but the feeling only grows with each step towards home. Why were they so nervous? they'd taken this route home dozens of times, why was it so nerve wracking now?

 _'Oh. Oh no. It's him.'_

He stood near the front door, bat resting across his shoulder half turned away as if he hadn't noticed them even though they could feel his gaze on them. Avery froze and tried to take a few deep breathes, trying to ignore the constricting feeling in their chest. Their heart was shaking almost uncontrollably and it felt like it was about to fall out of their chest. Avery couldn't shake the sense of...wrong they felt but couldn't place why.

"Howdy." they jumped at his voice.

"Uh...g-good evening! Good night!" Their voice felt incredibly small, as if it wasn't their own. They tried to speed walk to the door, but the tall man stepped to the side and blocked the way.

"Now, now, why the hurry? Won't ya answer a couple questions, kiddo?" His deep, drawling voice felt like venom to their ears. He smiled at Avery, but that only served to make them more nervous.

"Uh...n-need directions? Y-you seem out of p-place." They could hear their voice shake in fear, as if they couldn't feel it shake like the rest of their body. They winced when he turned up an eyebrow. He noticed.

"Well, ain't you smart! Right to the point. Why yes, I am lost. But I ain't lookin' for a place. Oh, I found that. Looking for a guy, think you can help?" Crap. What was he going to do to them if they couldn't help? He looked like the kind of guy who'd go on a rampage at a moments notice.

"Ah...um, I'm pretty new to the city. I don't know a lot of people." His grin only seemed to grow as he lazed back against the front door and closed his eyes.

"I reckon you can. Suppose I shouldn't mince words. You're a busy person! I'm already feelin' guilty wastin' your time."

' _Somehow I'm_ pretty sure _that you are not "feelin' guilty" in the slightest'_ He finally opened his eyes to stare them down, trapping them where they stood.

"I'm trying to hunt down Graves. You seen him?"

 _'Graves!?'_ Was he a friend? No, he couldn't be. It just didn't seem right. What made him think they knew Graves? Had he been following them?

"See. I've been looking all over for my old buddy and it's like he don't exist! Ain't that a shame?"

"Ah...y-yeah. I haven't seen him recently either." Anger flashed over his face like an eclipse making Avery jump, only for it to vanish just as quickly as it had come.

"Tch! Too bad. We got _so_ much to talk about. I suppose his apprentice will do. That'll send the message."

' _What!? A-Apprentice!?'_

Intent reached their feet before it reached their ears, but it didn't seem to matter. Avery only managed to start running before hearing what sounded like a bat hitting metal. And suddenly their foot got stuck. They didn't know what on, only that when it hit the ground, it didn't get back off. The force they had been building slammed into them and forced them to the pavement. Their ankle twisting in a way that pain shoots up their leg. They wanted to crawl away, but couldn't. Their leg refused to move no matter how hard they pulled.

"I gotta speak to Graves 'bout your manners. Didn't even excuse yourself. What a rude little kitten." Avery shivered as the word "kitten" exited the man's mouth. They didn't like it. They really didn't like it.

Avery turned down to look at their foot only to see it covered in...rust? They look up to see the man moving towards them. He was slow like molasses, like he was going on a stroll through a mountain trail and not towards a person with a foot covered in magical rust. they had to strain their neck to see him, but it was hard at this angle. It hurt to twist their leg anyway they could.

"If you'd been polite we wouldn't need to fight. Didn't wanna hurt you, kitten. I only need a couple answers."

"W-what did you mean "send the message"!?" He raised an eyebrow and his grin only seemed to grow as he stepped closer.

"I needed a way to let Graves know that I'm back. But imagine my surprise when I don't see no hide nor hair of 'im." He stopped barely a foot away from them, tapping their rusted foot with his bat.

"We coulda' dueled, I wouldn'ta complained, but I don't think you can get out of that there rust." He took a step closer until he was close enough that he was almost touching them. Avery couldn't stop shaking. That dreadful feeling was practically slamming into them from everywhere. It felt like they were at the bottom of the ocean, and they were moments away from being crushed.

Avery was almost positive they wouldn't be able to break the rust off without breaking off their entire ankle. No matter how hard they pulled, it wouldn't budge.

 _'It already feels broken, so halfway there I guess.'_ They could feel tears well up in their eyes. From the pain or the situation they were in they weren't sure. What could they do!? They could barely use their magic to make trash sculptures, how could they fight back?

They could call for help but all the people that could help were cats right now. Graves was missing. The police would probably get wrecked by this guy.

 _'I'm doomed.'_

The man must've found something funny, because he started chuckling and nudged them with their foot. A rough prod against their stomach that felt almost like stone hitting them. They craned their head and they can see him biting his tongue, the tip sticking out of his mouth like he was trying to stop himself from laughing. Ew. He bended his knees and moved downwards, stopping when his knees almost hit his chest and his bat was resting on his shoulder again. By the time he stopped, he was leering over them, a look of sick excitement dancing in his eyes.

"Say, you look mighty scared, kitten. Don't know why, I ain't gonna hurt ya." It wasn't much of a stretch for Avery not to believe him. The white-haired man leaned forward and grabbed their chin with his free hand, turning their face from side to side as if admiring an art piece from all angles. He seemed to ignore any pathetic attempts from Avery trying to pull away, before bringing his face closer, filling Avery's nose with the smell of iron. They couldn't help but shiver in fear as they felt his nose brush up against their ear.

"You look mighty cute, kitten. Could see why Graves'd keep you 'round."

 _'is this creep complimenting me!?'_ The disgust must've shown on their face cause the man just seemed to laugh again.

"Don't be so angry kitten! Just payin' respects." Avery tried pulling their leg free again to no avail. Their ankle wasn't budging. The man seemed to enjoy leaning over them, eyeing them up like some twisted prize at a weird fairground stall.

Suddenly, the hand on Avery's chin moved to the back of their neck and gripped it with enough pressure that Avery couldn't stop themselves from crying out, and suddenly all they can see was the street racing towards to meet them.


	2. Unwanted Affection

They cried out as their head was slammed into the pavement, shocks aching from their surely bruised cheek. They tried to push themselves back up only for the witch's hand around the back of their neck to keep them there. The man was enjoying himself, watching them struggle under him like a defenseless animal. They couldn't see his face, but they could hear him chuckling to himself, like some kid watching an animal at the zoo.

Amidst their struggling against the larger man, Avery could hear the sound of metal hitting the pavement nearby. Close by. Was someone else there? Did the man come with someone else just in case? They kicked out with their unrusted foot to find if anyone was behind them, only to hit what must've been the man's bat away from them. It hadn't gone far, but it was enough to make the man hovering over them tut in distaste.

"Now why'd ya do that? I'm bein' nice and this is how ya repay me." The grip on their neck tightened, his fingers digging into the sides of Avery's neck to the point they were worried he was going to break their neck. In a panic they threw out their arm towards where they hoped his face was, only for it to be caught by the stranger's free hand. His grip was like steel digging into their wrist and it refused to give, just like the rust currently wrapped around their foot.

"So rude~! Graves shoulda' worked on yer manners some more little kitten. Pets learn th'most when they're still small after all." His grip on their wrist tightened to a point they were sure he was trying to break their wrist, before he yanked on their arm causing them to cry out in pain as he pushed their arm against their back. Their free hand was scrambling by their side, trying to find something, _anything_ that could get them out of this situation. They had collapsed against the pavement of the street, but it was close enough to the sidewalk where they could see some empty bottles and some crash kicked up against the curb.

Could they use magic to get out? The man was _way_ too strong for them, he'd probably shrug off anything they threw at him. He could probably give Mason a run for her money. They tried to reach for the closest bottle, only for it to escape their grasp by a few measly inches.

Avery tried grabbing it again only to to cry out as what felt like a mountain press into their back. It was mostly concentrated on their lower back with the center against their spine. They tried turning their head the best they could behind them, and saw the edges of the man in their peripheral vision with what Avery was guessing was their knee pushing against their back.

"Ya see, the best way t'make a pet learn something they're not allowed to do is t'use fear. Make 'em afraid of you. Punish 'em if they try an fight back." The pressure on their back increased again and they had to bite their lip to keep from crying out as tears welled up in their eyes. They wanted to call out for help, but the fear of what the man would do kept them quiet.

 _'Where_ is _everybody!? This is a city! Why is it only when creeps_ show up _that everybody else decides to stay inside!?'_ They scrambled against the man's grip only for him to laugh again as he held their arm behind their back.

"Now this is too cute! Keep strugglin', see how that works out~." The hand against their neck lessened its grip thankfully, only to start stroking the sides of their neck. Avery shook themselves again in disgust as they tried getting him off, lose his grip or just s _top._ He just seemed to laugh in response to their struggling as he continued to stroke them.

"So much spirit, could see why you'd get on with Graves. Doesn't matter, no one's spirit is endless. Just gotta show ya in a way that _sticks."_ Avery's face blanched as the hand against their neck started moving downwards, trailing along their spinal column as their struggling began again in earnest. As his hand moved farther down, their hoodie seemed to fall against their arms with the sound of what they felt was...aluminum? Flakes of some kind was landing on their back as parts of their shirt rusted away with their hoodie.

' _It's not spreading, like the rust on my foot! Does he have to focus more to make it spread, or keep it contained?'_ Avery was torn from their thoughts as the tension in the man's knee increased making them cry out, only to feel the man's breathing against the back of their neck. They shivered and shook themselves again, hoping that something or someone would stop what was happening.

"S-stop! Please, just _stop!"_

"Now _why_ would I do that? Seems you need to learn a lesson, kitten. Can't just go around with that attitude of yours'." Tears started flowing down Avery's face as they struggled feebly against their assaulter.

They wanted to run, but couldn't. They wanted to cry out for help, but couldn't. They wanted to _get this creep off of them,_ but _couldn't._ They wanted to go back to the cafe and forget this ever happened and cuddle with all her friends, but couldn't.

' _I wanna go home. I wanna go home and forget about this stupid magic a-and these stupid crazy witches and aunt Mary's stupid apartment and this whole city!'_

Avery strived to get out from under the man's grasp, wincing as his fingers pressed against their back, the only parts of their shirt and hoodie not split in half by rust was the bottom half covered by the man's knee. His fingers were cold against their back and they _really_ didn't like it. They scrambled under him again trying to keep all their limbs moving while only successfully moving half as one hand was caught by him and the other still covered by rust. The pain in their ankle was getting worse, unable to move and forced to feel the metal mix between their pant leg and the pavement of the street.

 _'I hate him. I hate this guy and his stupid rust powers! I want him off of me. I want him to let go of my arm and fix my stupid hoodie!'_

"Please, let me go! Leave me alone y-you sicko!" His taunting laugh only made them more infuriated. Their anger and fear having long since melted together into one corrosive ball that sat in their heart as they fought against his grip. Avery found their view becoming more and more blurry as tears flowed down their face.

' _Let go! Let...go! Let go let go let go let go Let Me Go! LET ME GO!'_ Avery thought of the rust against their foot, one of the main reasons that they was still here. They thought of the rust crumbling away, crumbling away into little pieces as they burned up in the air. Flaking off like their hoodie had.

With a strangled shout, Avery reached for the bottle again as a warmth spread through their ankle. It felt like an immense heat was building up, but not actually hurting them. It felt like heated water flowed from their ankle to the rust covering it. Avery didn't know what it was, only that when they reached for the bottle again, they found their hand wrapping around the cold surface of the glass.

Refusing to give the creep anymore time with them, they twisted their body around to face the man. With their foot free, they could turn around fully to face the man causing him to drop his knee from their back to the paved street under them. Avery thought of the bottle sharpening. Of all the shards that the bottle would become sharp like barbed wire and _struck._

The bottle seemed to smash against the man's face in slow motion: The widening of his eyes as Avery turned to face them, the surprise in his eyes as they followed the bottle growing closer. The sound of shattering glass as it exploded against man's temple. The shards separating against his face, slashing against his skin. The cuts from the glass growing along his nose, his cheek and his forehead. The grip he had along their neck vanished as his hand seemed to slowly reach for his face to cup the abused flesh.

And suddenly time seemed to speed up. One moment they were watching the glass shards as they seemingly melted into little liquid globs against their body and suddenly they found themselves running again. Running down an alleyway with the man's angered cry following them. Avery tried to put as much distance between them as they could while also using their magic to toss trash bags, litter and plastic behind them. Their assaulter had to get his bat first, then he'd follow them most likely. Avery didn't know what he could do with his rust specifically, but they know that bat had a reason behind them getting their foot stuck. Avery needed to make sure it didn't happen again.

They reached the entrance of the alley and turned sharply to follow the sidewalk before turning into another alley. They looked to another alley across the street and reached with their magic, sending the trash in the dumpster across the alley entrance. If they were lucky their assaulter would think they went in another direction.

They ran down the alley, passing the unfamiliar store fronts and back doors as they took random turns. Avery didn't know where they were, but they had to keep running, they were sure of that.

 _'What do I do? Where do I go!? Should I go back to the cafe? He knows that I work there so me must think I'm running back there! The only problem is_ _that I don't if I'm running towards the cafe or not.'_

Did they go to the cafe? They guessed that Graves had set up wards there since the bike incident. The walls that shimmered like shiny metal. It'd explain why Avery never saw the man before if he was looking for Graves. It would be the safest place to go, but the man probably knew that...he could probably tell that Graves warded the place, right? He probably expected them to go there.

Their apartment? He knew where they lived, but did he know their room number?  
What about Mochi!? What if he went after him or something? The fat cat hadn't even had dinner yet! He could probably tell the man where they lived just by yowling loud enough.

Avery turned at an intersection in the alley, only for their feet to fly out from under them. The ground rushed under them as they flew through the air before finally coming down with a _crash._

They cried out as their body flopped against the ground, their face hitting first before their body tumbled. Their elbow slammed into something metal with their knee hitting the concrete under them. When their body finally stopped moving they continued to lay there, taking deep breathes to try and alleviate the burning in their chest. Their whole body ached and their clothes were a mess with half their hoodie almost tumbling off their shoulder. They could feel something wet drip down their face, moving across their nose towards the ground that rested against their cheek.

Avery took the moment they had to stretch her hearing to the area around her, hearing nothing but the lull of the city traffic and the occasional stray animal. He must've lost them by now, right? They could finally take a second to relax? She eyed the area around her for somewhere safe, and could see a fenced in area with an open gate with a dumpster filled with trash.

Slowly while trying not to aggravate their injuries further, they shuffled over to the gate and shut it behind them. They made sure to grab some of the plastic bags and wrap them around the lock, melting it into a gooey substance that clung to the cold metal. After dealing with that, Avery shuffled over to the dumpster, After recoiling at the funky smell, they moved the mess of recycled materials and trash and created an impromptu wall, willing the mess to join together and close them off from anyone seeing them that happened to walk by.

After all that had happened, Avery could only sigh deeply and fall to the ground, curling inwards on themselves while trying to ignore the scent of iron and trash that filled their nose. The cut on their head had stopped bleeding, but there face was probably covered in sweat, blood and dried tears. Avery had done all they could on their own and gotten beat up because of it. As far as they knew, the others were safe and Graves was still missing. The man had hopefully lost them and was retreating back to where he stayed when he wasn't sexually harassing people or stalking them.

Avery felt numb, either by what had happened or the amount of running they had done. The only thing they _could_ feel was the aching pain from their wounds and cuts. Each one shot pain back to their head with every beat of their heart. All of Avery's limbs hurt, and their back was sure to bruise badly from what had happened. They sighed and felt their eyes growing heavy from the extended period of energy spending. They tried fighting it at first, but it seemed useless.

 _'What more can I do? I'm exhausted. If he finds me...he finds me. There's nothing else I can do.'_ They dug further into themselves, and hoped that the wall of garbage could stop them from more pain.

 _'I hope the others...are alright. I could use some serious cuddling right now though.'_


	3. Hiding Behind Walls

Dull aches and echoes of pain pulsed through their body. The intensity of the sun against their skin. Avery awoke to these feelings along with the boisterous calls of city traffic that had no idea what had transpired the night before.

Avery didn't move for some unknown amount of time, simply wanting to just _lie there_ and not worry about witches or their injuries. A chance to simply stay still and not have to worry about anything. A chance to recollect what had happened a few hours ago.

Sleep had not come easily for Avery. Their sleep seemed to last only minutes before they woke up crying from a nightmare. Each time they tried to go back to sleep in the dirty alleyway they'd only manage to catch a few stress-filled minutes of sleep before a nightmare woke them back up. Eventually they stopped crying from the dreams, but they couldn't tell if it was because their mind had adjusted to the trauma, or they had simply run out of tears to spill.

 _'Am I safe? I'm still here at least, so that's something. What about the others? Were they safe?'_ It had been late at night when Avery had gone home only to be attacked by the rust witch. They didn't know how long he chased them, but what about after he lost them? Did he go back to wherever he lived and wait for another day? Had he gone for the others since they couldn't be found?

With every worrying thought that bounced through their brain, Avery's heartbeat only seemed to speed up, as did their breathing. All of the others were cats, they had no way to fight back! But what could they do? That man could beat them no problem, who's to say he couldn't go to the cafe?

Wait. The cafe. He knew Avery worked there under Graves, so he must've been watching the cafe! But why wait if he was? He'd been looking for Graves, so why not go then? Was it because of the wards that Graves had set up the last time they had seen him?

 _'Okay, so the guy from last night has been looking for Graves. Is that why Graves had practically vanished? When I found him looking at the rusted bike in the alley on the way to work, he had said something about the guy who was doing it right? Something about "now being able to stop him"?'_

Was that the guy Graves was talking about? It'd make sense since both seem to know about the other. So all that rusted junk that had been building up in the alley, were those signals that he was looking for Graves? Warnings? Is that why Graves told them not to worry about it? Did he think he was the only target?

"Fat lot of good that did. Ugh..." Their throat hurt. It felt like the man's hand was still wrapped around their neck, choking them as they laid on the warming concrete.

 _'Warm concrete? How long have I been laying here? I should probably get up...'_

Despite knowing it would probably help if they got up and take assessment of their injuries, it still took some time for them to actually open their eyes. The light from the sun was enough to make them close their eyes in pain, just like every time they woke up with the sun in their eyes. Was the sun in on this? Did it team up with their attacker to cause as much harm as possible?

"Too weak...blegh..." It was harder than normal to move their face. It felt crusty and hard. Dry, like sunburnt skin. They could feel the lines of dried tears on their cheeks with another line of something crusty dipping down to their chin from their eyebrow.

Oh, yeah, they tripped last night when they got to the alley. Just thinking about it made their elbow ache. Okay, really all their limbs hurt, specifically their elbows and knees. Their back didn't hurt too much thankfully, just a dull ache that would hopefully go away as the day progressed.

With a weary sigh, Avery finally pushed themselves into a sitting position while taking off their ruined hoodie. they took a moment to assess the damage, and really didn't like what they saw.

The hoodie was dirty with droplets of what Avery guessed was the glass that liquified from the bottle she used to escape. The back was even worse, cut almost completely down the middle. The cut started at their hood and moved almost all the way down, stopping a few inches above the bottom of it. The cut was rough, with rusted spots on the edges of where the creep had put his hand.

Avery shivered at the thought of his hands. That creep didn't have a sense of the word privacy, and they were just glad they got out when they did. How far would he have gone? He clearly wasn't low on time judging by his lax pace through it all. And that nickname: Kitten. It left a dark spot in their mind just thinking about it. The perverse way he said it just rubbed them the wrong way.

Judging by the breeze they felt, their shirt was in a similar state. They couldn't just take that off too, what if someone saw them? They'd probably call the police on them for public indecency. The collar was cuffed and intact thankfully along with the bottom, so it looked more like an odd fashion trend.

Thankful of the time they had, Avery rolled back the dirty white shirt to look at their arms. Her hands were scraped and had marks on them from when they'd fallen before, with one of the wrists covered in bruises, "from the man's hand" they guessed. Both elbows had seen better days, but weren't terrible with some raw skin and a patch of blood.

Their legs were a different story unfortunately. They couldn't assess the damage very accurately because of the pants, but they could see the heavy dark spot of dried blood where their knees were. A bit of painful stretching later concluded that the pant legs were stuck to their knees due to the amount of dried blood.

"Oh...what do I do?" Their voice sounded as pitiful as they felt, "I should probably pull the pant leg off so it can heal properly, but that's gonna hurt...It's gonna start bleeding again probably so it might just be for nothing..."

Their ankle ached with every beat of Avery's heart. Rolling up the bottom of their pant leg showed the ankle to be a deep heavy blue and purple, and had swollen exponentially through the night.

"Yeesh..." They decided to keep the pant leg rolled halfway up their shin to keep from disturbing the ankle and the bloody knee. The other leg was luckily not as bed, just a bad knee like the first. After taking inventory of their legs to make sure they functioned properly - which they did, just hurt a lot - Avery leaned forward and started to prod their back with their hand. It was easy with their back exposed, and most of it was thankfully unharmed! As Avery ghosted their hand down their spine, they let out a sharp gasp and retracted their hand they felt a spot near their waist. It hurt to touch and was directly against the spine so they guessed it was where the man had pushed his knee against them. With an exhausted sigh, Avery laid back down on their side to not aggravate their back, only to shoot up halfway down.

"PHONE!" Phone! They had a phone! How could they forget!? They could call the others and make sure they're okay! Avery rummaged through their pockets to get their phone, and pulled it out with gusto. A part of them was disappointed it was now cracked from what happened, but they'd dealt with worse! They tried to open it, only for the screen to remain a dead black. They clicked again, to the same response. They held down the power button, and was unfortunately surprised to find that the battery had died...

 _'No. Please no'_ They'd have to go looking for a phone, or a way to get to the cafe. They didn't trust their apartment, but what about Mochi? The poor guy hadn't eaten dinner, or breakfast they were guessing given how high the sun was in the sky.

"He's probably ransacked the place by now..." Just thinking about how Hangry Mochi must've been made Avery sag further into themselves. They had to get home to feed him, but they also had to take care of their injuries. And what about the others? They were already overprotective enough from dealing with that creep who harassed Finley, and that kid who cursed Landry. It had surprised Avery to find out that Landry had experienced magic before, but that didn't change how they felt about him so they didn't mind too much. His kissing quality certainly remained the same thankfully.

The creep who had gone after Finley had been another story entirely. Finley didn't have magic to defend herself with and the creep had been persistent, but everyone but Finley had been surprised to see a cop get in the middle of it and arrest the guy for harassment! Apparently Finley had contacted a fan of the Jelly Donut videos who had happened to be a police officer to sort the mess out. The cop was a young woman with blonde hair done up in a loose ponytail, and seemed really nice from the little amount her and Avery talked together.

Could Avery go to the police? They weren't being chased by a witch, and it would certainly help if the police were keeping an eye out for him. Judging by his rust ability, Avery guessed he could make it spread if he so wished. So...why hadn't he? That would've sent a strong message if he wanted to. But why didn't he? Did he want some "Fun" - thinking like that made them shiver in disgust - first?

Okay, first step: Get to a phone or find out where they were. Second step: Talk to the police and get a doctor to look at their injuries. And let the rest happen after because Avery was _not_ in the mood to deal with thinking things through.

Taking a deep breathe, Avery turned their body to the side to get their arms underneath them and slowly get to their feet. It hurt, pain shooting up Avery's limbs with every twitch. Their hands stung as they pressed them against the pebbled concrete ground, but not as much as their knees as Avery finally managed to get their feet under them. Their lip started bleeding from how hard they were biting, but it just gave Avery something to focus on to try and tune out the sound of dried blood ripping apart from their knees. The shocks of pain were too much for Avery to tune out completely, but they were thankful the pain dulled after a while.

They had to stop. Taking deep, heavy breaths to try and keep their voice from quivering in pain, Avery hunched forward to try and alleviate the pain shooting up their spine from the spot on their back. Taking a step forward thankfully didn't hurt too much, just the usual spasms of pain in her knees. Taking the next step on their most likely broken ankle almost sent Avery back to the ground with a cry. Black spots dotted their vision as they tried to keep themselves standing, momentarily thankful that the two steps they took was enough for them to reach the closest chain-linked wall. Using it as an impromptu hand hold, Avery shuffled themselves closer to the locked gate.

It felt like hours before they reached it in reality mostly seconds seemed to pass, and yet Avery was already aching for some rest. Their knees felt like they were chaffing against the pant legs, and they could already feel some fresh blood dribble down their leg. Their ankle felt like it was fire, but they had to keep going.

They had to make sure the others were safe!


	4. Searching For Solace

Avery wanted to make sure the others were safe. Had the man gone after them? Had they even noticed Avery was missing? Well, they probably did, given how high the sun was Avery was pretty sure they were a few hours late to work. It wouldn't be the first time they were late, but that was an hour or so at best. It was probably early afternoon by now, so one of the others must've tried to call them right?

Avery sighed for what felt the tenth time today and leaned against the wall of the alley. They hadn't been walking long, but already they could feel the burning in their thighs from the exercise. All the running they did yesterday was putting their body through hell _besides_ the injuries they had.

They wanted a nap. They wanted someone to help them, preferably Hayes since he had that kinda expertise. They wanted to kick that dude who attacked them in the teeth, and they wanted to relax and cuddle with all of their cutie patootie dates.

Avery missed them, terribly so. They missed the way Mason's muscular body made them feel when she was gentle with them. They missed how safe they felt when Landry could almost cover themselves with his own gentle giant body. They missed Hayes' loving cuddle hugs that always made them feel valid and wanted. They missed Finley's adorable murmuring as she buried her face into their neck. They missed Reese's cute blushing cuddles that always made him look like a strawberry.

Avery wanted to go home.

Not their home in the countryside. It was nice, but it didn't have any of _them_ there _._ Avery didn't think of their apartment as home, since technically it was Aunt Wendy's. No, Avery's home was with the others. Their home was at A Cat's Paw, with the five people who made Avery's life so much brighter.

 _'Great, and now I'm crying again. I must look like a mess.'_ Avery batted at their eyes with the tips of their fingers while trying to avoid rubbing their face with the scraped palms. Avery turned their head to look back, eyeing the growing distance between them and the fenced area they woke up in. They remained in the alleyways, following a path that didn't cross the busy streets. Avery needed something to hold onto, and they didn't trust themselves without a crutch trying to cross the road.

Another problem Avery had with it was also the reason they hadn't knocked on any of the backdoors that were spread out through the alley. Going through what had happened, Avery found themselves simply too nervous to actually ask anyone to help. How would they react? Would they even help them? Would they think of them as some roughed-up thug like Mason's grandpa had?

 _'Gotta admit, I don't exactly_ look _like a thug. Missing the muscle mass and...stuff.'_ Avery's shirt thankfully had held up so far. It had been super uncomfortable trying to turn the shirt backwards having to keep their back straight or risk provoking the injury on their back, and trying to keep their elbows from rubbing against the shirt. It now exposed the middle of their torso from their naval to their clavicle, but it was better than nothing. It did keep their back injury out of view with made them feel a little bit safer emotionally.

They had to find a phone. Or where they were. They hadn't run _too_ far from the cafe, right? It must've been only at most a twenty minute walk from where they were, but in their state?

 _'I don't trust myself to actually start looking around to try and find any recognizable landmarks. I learned more about the neighborhood when I first got my job, but it's been weeks!'_

Avery exhaled and wiped a stray tear off their face before starting the trek again. They _had_ to find a phone! They _would_ find a phone! Surely of these stores had a phone, it was the city! Avery could already see a backdoor closing up on them, a heavy looking steel door...with a similar look that the _A Cat's Paw_ had! Had they made it back without them knowing? The alley didn't look all that familiar, but they had only been in the alley a few times and they had been busy at the time.

They had to resist the urge to run up and pull upon the door, and settled for timidly knocking on the door. Avery took a step back from the door, and waited to see if anyone came.

A minute passed, nothing...

They let a few more minutes pass - maybe they were busy? - but still nothing...

They sighed wistfully and took a step forward, wrapping their knuckle against the door harder than before. Surely someone must've heard that?

Another minute passed, but nobody came...

 _'What the hell!? The_ one _door in the alley that doesn't have a store connected to it or something!?'_ Avery was beginning to feel their blood boil in well deserved anger. After everything they had gone through and everything they had done to get away from that creep, they were just gonna be left out on the alley steps like a stray cat!? 

_'No way man, I'm not going anywhere, so open up the damn door!'_ Avery shuffled themselves closer and banged their fist against the door with whatever strength they had left, only to cry out and grip their hand. The shocks of pain were spreading through their hand and elbow and they hated it. Rubbing their arm to try and alleviate the pain, Avery pressed their ear against the door, but still heard nothing.

Avery couldn't keep their exhausted groan quiet if they wanted to. What had they done to deserve this? Why had their day gone from great to crap so fast? Had they displeased some rude deity by dating five people? If they did, that deity can go screw themselves! There was no way they were leaving the others, not after what they done for Avery!

With a weary groan, Avery hoisted themselves back up and shuffled passed the door, leaving more against the wall than they had previously. They were just so tired, and their body was practically crying out for some more rest. But on they shuffled, and soon found themselves "standing" awkwardly in front. As they stood in front of the door, they came to a sudden realization. A realization that made them eye all the doors they could see in the alley.

 _'They all look practically identical!'_ Avery whimpered but moved closer to the door to knock, only for their hand to stop a few inches away. Their eyes were glued to the handle of the door, which had a patch of rust on the very bottom. Just looking at it made Avery bite their lip again to stop from crying out, to stop themselves from running away as fast as they could.

Just because there was rust didn't mean _he_ was there, right? Please? The entire door was rusted, not like the other rust-covered pieces of junk that lined the alleyway on their way to work. Just a small patch, so small they hadn't even noticed it. Natural, right?

The creeping feeling was back, clawing up their spine and freezing their legs. It was just like before, both times. The feeling that had settled in their gut but was spreading through veins like dark ice. The fear that clawed at their throat, closing it to a point they were almost choking.

Did they ignore the feeling? It hadn't started until they had seen the patch, so maybe it _wasn't_ the same as before? Maybe it was just their body warning them, memories coming back to give them a better chance at avoiding a repeat of before?

 _'No! I need a stupid phone, and I am_ going _to get one!'_ They steeled themselves and wrapped against the door a few times, already feeling their legs tightening, preparing themselves for a hasty, in their opinion, retreat. But at first...nothing? Had they gone through all that for nothing?

' _Wait. What's that sound?'_ It was repetitive. So quiet they had to press up against the door to hear it to try and tune out the sound of the city. Was it...

"Footsteps?" Their voice was quiet, and hoarse. Almost like Hayes', but more like they had been crying too backed up in a hurry, coming to a stop at the foot of the small stairs. Their erratic heartbeat had become frantic, every pulse felt like it was trying to break Avery's heart out of their ribcage.

 _'Suppose it's the moment of truth. Just really hope it isn't who I think it is...'_ The steps were close enough Avery could hear them easily now. They were small, but slow. _His_ footsteps were heavy and slow. But besides the footsteps, something else came.

The feeling was back. That feeling of trying to breathe with what felt like the ocean on top of them. The intense pressure surrounding them that seemed to grow only more and more as the steps grew closer. Was it actually him?

 _'Are my witch abilities somehow...detecting him or something? But it feels, like...wrong, or different. It doesn't feel as...oppressive? repressive?'_ Avery was pulled from their thoughts by a...clicking sound? They looked towards where they heard the sound to see the door slowly opening, and with it the feeling of before seemed to increase exponentially.

It felt like they were at the beach like from when they were a kid. They remembered this feeling: The feeling of standing in the water up to their waist with the waves trying to push them back to the sandy shore. But the feeling was...somewhat different. Instead of waves pushing them back, it felt like they were trying to be pushed by a tidal wave that wasn't there. A weight they couldn't stop, but wasn't being pressured. Like an encroaching mountain, or Mason slowly pushing them to sit down, or down onto the couch.

The door was still opening, but Avery could finally see the person behind the door. They were small, ridiculously so. The individual barely made to Avery's shoulders standing straight, and the figure appeared to be hunched forward.

 _'They're so...old...'_ Their skin was wrinkled, but not malnourished. From what Avery could tell, the figure's grayed hair was in a bun with the top covered in what looked like some soft-looking fabric. It was done in the same style that Mason did when she was in the kitchen. Had she been cooking before, or was she just wearing it for a style.

What soon caught Avery's eyes, were the two mismatched colored eyes. One eye was a vibrant yellow, while the other was a deep forest green. They couldn't decide which to focus on - it was like when they met Graves all over again - but found their attention drawn into the vibrant yellow. It was...different from Graves' eyes. While his blue eye seemed to radiate coldness and power, the woman's yellow eye seemed to fill them with warmth and comfort, like sitting in a dimly-lit room while snow gently fell to the ground outside.

"Goodness, dearie! Look at you, are you alright?" The person's voice, _her_ voice, soothed Avery's nerves considerably. More than they had been able to at the very least. After the night, and subsequent day they had gone through, it had been nice to be asked if _they were alright._

"O-oh, hi. I was wondering if I could...use your phone?" Avery tried not to let it show, but their ankle was getting irritated again. After how long they had been walking, the pain had dulled into what felt like a very loud static. The pain from their palms and elbows had faded with time, but their legs still hurt considerably.

"Oh of course, sweetie! Please, come in and take a seat. I'll go get the phone." Avery tried not to fall over in relief. Soon step one would be completed. They eagerly followed after the shambling old lady into what looked to be the most comfortable looking living room Avery had ever seen. Incense candles sat on a small table in the center of the room, surrounded by two comfy looking couches. Pictures lined the walls, with one wall covered by a large bookshelf that seemed almost bursting with bound books.

"Now dearie, it seems pointless to ask, but who would you like me to call?" And with that question, Avery stopped at the front of the living room.

And who did they call? Their first instinct was to call the cafe, but what then. All that'd do was worry the others and let them know something happened, _if_ nothing happened to them.

The police? There wasn't much they could do against a witch, especially a rust witch. Only metals get rusted naturally, right? Anything the police had wouldn't be very effective against him if they even found him.

 _'Still, just having something would make me feel a bit better against the guy, like a real ass gun.'_

"Uhh...c-could you call the police please, ma'am? I-i-if it wouldn't be too much of a bother I mean..." The old lady just seemed to raise a gray eyebrow before shuffling out of the room. Avery took the time they had to shuffle over to one of the couches and slowly lean down to give their ankle a rest. Avery propped themselves over the couch before letting themselves fall onto the cushions. They sunk into the couch cushion and rest their ankle at a slightly extended angle to stop their pants from rubbing against their knee.

The couch had an immediate effect on Avery. They could feel their nerves unwinding and their tense body relax slowly as they sunk further into the couch. They had to keep themselves from groaning at just how _good_ it felt. It felt like-

...magic.

The realization couldn't stop Avery's eyes from slowly getting heavier, despite their attempts to rise off the couch. It just seemed to sooth them more until they couldn't even manage to raise their arms.

 _'Makes sense...two different colored eyes...that presence when she was opening the door...Reese did say that the area was full of witches.'_ Avery tried to keep their eyes opened, but only managed until the woman came shambling back into the room with a phone that didn't look to be a day under 40 or something.

"Oh my, it seems you were more drained than I thought. It's alright dearie, you're safe here. Don't need to worry about no duels here."

 _'duels? That's what the guy said last night.'_

"I already called the police dear. Normally they aren't exactly effective in these type of things, but my granddaughter is a police officer! She's so beautiful, and so nice too! I made sure to mention your injuries so they'll be here with one of those fancy ambulances. And don't you worry! Any witch worth their salt in this city knows not to mess with the likes of me~! And don't worry, the hospital and police station are both warded against attackers as well, so you'll be safe there."

Throughout the whole speech, the old woman only seemed to get fonder and fonder as she spoke. But Avery's exhaustion had progressed to the point they couldn't keep their eyes open any longer, despite the amount of metaphorical bombs the woman was dropping on them. The sounds of the living room, and what sounded like an old grandfather clock only served to tire Avery more.

 _'I'll just rest a little...just a minute...the others are probably safe...I'm safe...finally...'_ With that final thought, the young cafe worker drifted off into a sea of comforting unconsciousness.


	5. Friend or Foe?

"Hello, can you hear me?" Avery's body felt like lead, but they finally managed to open their crusty eyes on the second, or third go, to see a man they hadn't met before in a bright multi-colored jacket.

Oh, he's wearing a paramedic's jacket. He was with another man. Behind them, Avery could see a tough-looking black haired woman eyeing her from across the room. She didn't look particularly mean, just interested. Behind her, they could see the old lady chatting quietly with another cop who was probably the woman's cop partner. Her hair was a platinum blonde hiding the side of her face from view.

"Excuse me, can you hear me?" Avery jumped a little and focused on the man in front of them again, who's eyes were a warm chocolate brown and filled with professional concern. Avery nodded in response, trying not to aggravate their sore throat. The paramedic seem to relax slightly, and motioned to their body.

"Is it alright if me and my friend approach you? Can you tell us about your injuries, and how you received them? Could you tell us your name?" Avery nodded again and tried to relax their body somewhat. More awake, they could feel how awkward they felt at being the center of attention between a room of strangers.

 _'It feels like graduation all over again. Ugh...I shouldn't be so mean. This_ is _their job after all, they probably don't feel awkward, just another job.'_

"Y-yeah...M-my name's Av-Avery Grey." They winced at the dull ache of their throat, "I w-was attacked...last night. I tried to run, but he...caught up to me." Avery didn't know how many people knew about witches, but the old lady had said something about her granddaughter being in the police. Was her granddaughter a witch too?

"H-he...held me down a-and said something about "sending the message." Then he started to...to..." Avery couldn't help but remember that feeling of utter disgust and fear they felt that night. How utterly powerless they felt in an area they had once thought safe. They didn't know how far he was planning to go, but it filled their gut with dread like liquid metal just thinking about it.

If anyone thought anything about what they had said, their kept it to themselves. The paramedic's face hadn't changed, and the female cops behind him kept their faces a stoic mask. Avery looked down to their hands on their lap, taking a deep breathe while trying to forget the sensation of the man's hand around their neck.

"...He...g-grabbed something and started to...cut my shirt. It was...sharp...but he didn't hurt me with it." They took a shaky breathe while trying to ignore the feeling of tears building up in their eyes again. "I-I kept trying to get away, b-but he was too strong. It felt like he was made out of pure metal or something!"

They took another deep breathe, finding solace in the memory of smashing the glass bottle into his face. The look of surprise and pain on his face as the bottle met his temple.

"I...I managed to get away, b-before he could really... _do_ anything. I got out from under him and ran, he tried to follow, but I lost him in the alleys." Their heart had settled somewhat, no longer feeling like they were about to go into an aneurysm just remembering last night. They looked back up to see the paramedic was still standing in front of them with the other right behind him, but they were surprised to see the black-haired cop much closer than before. Had she moved when they were talking about what happened?

"Can you tell us what the man looked like?" Avery tried to to show their shock at the woman's words. It hadn't been intentional, but they were surprised how deep her voice was.

 _'What's the word my music teacher used for it? ...Con...tralto? Contraito? Eh, one of those.'_

"Y-yeah. He was...tall, with white hair. He had a rusted bat with a...pink handle I think? His clothes looked kinda ratty and had a pair of fingerless gloves...green." The black haired police officer was writing something down, probably just the important bits of what they said.

"You said you got away, why didn't you go to us immediately?" Her voice didn't make Avery jolt that time luckily. But they did feel their face flush with embarrassment.

"I'm...still kinda new to the city. I don't really know where anything is besides a corner store, where I work, and my apartment. I had been in front of my apartment after leaving work when I ran into him. After I got away, I was so panicked that I settled for the first safe place that I could find and fell asleep."

"And where was this 'safe place?'"

"A...fenced in area in an alley. Not far from here." The officer in front of them only raised an eyebrow before writing it down. Avery could see the jushed conversation between the two family members draw to a close, the blonde officer giving a quick hug to the older lady.

"Excuse me, is it alright if we look at your injuries?" The second paramedic spoke up for the first time, softer than what they imagined his voice sounded like. Avery nodded, and stretched out their legs.

"My ankle hurts the most." They raised their injured foot slightly. "And my knees and elbows hurt too. I-I fell and messed up my hands, and my face...but you probably already knew that..." They pressed one of their hands against their eyebrow where they guessed the injury was and winced. The mark was as bad as their limbs, but pain was still pain.

The two paramedics both made signs of acknowledgment before moving closer to Avery. The closest one had a case in his hand, a bright red one with a symbol Avery had seen on the front of hospitals and ambulances. One walked next to them and took something out of their pocket, a flashlight, and turned the beam on. While their view was obstructed by the man in front of them, Avery could feel the other paramedic take off one of their shoes and the sock underneath. They felt their pant leg be slowly rolled enough to uncover the twisted ankle.

"After you woke up, why didn't you call the police then?" It was the blonde officer who spoke this time, her voice was the same as before when Avery met them with Finley. She had taken up position beside her partner, and had a face just as stoic.

"My phone was dead. I was too nervous to go into the streets in case he was there. When he was...on me..." Avery felt their face heat up in embarrassment and fury. "...he talked about where I worked, and my co-workers. It wasn't too hard to piece together that he'd been stalking me, but I-I didn't know how much he knew. I was too scared to go into the streets in case he saw me! He wouldn't have had a problem with making me go wherever he wanted to."

"You said he said something about "sending the message", do you have any idea who he was talking about?" The blonde officer's voice wasn't any different from before, but Avery couldn't help but wince at it.

Did they tell? It would put more focus on Graves, and who knew how the police would react. Would they incriminate him because of it? He was gone for long periods of time, but Avery didn't really think he was up to anything malicious. Finley had said that he went to their homes to clean up the place while they were in cat form, and he _does_ do house inspections for the cats that get adopted from the cafe.

Their hesitation must've been pretty apparent because the blonde officer stepped closer to them, coming within arms reach. The paramedic in front of them had moved to the side and was looking at their elbows while the other was wrapping their ankle in those stretchy bandages.

The officer's body didn't seem too threatening, but Avery couldn't help the flash of panic that surged through their chest. The old lady said her granddaughter was in the force, which was most likely the woman in front of them. How much of what happened did she know? Was there evidence on them, or their clothes that described the scene or something? The old witch seemed to know that it was magic related, so could the woman in front of them tell too? They _really_ didn't know a lot about witches, only how to use magic. They didn't know anything about duels, or sensing magic o-or something! Were there factions of witches? Was there an official group of them and smaller splinters of groups? Was it some big monitored culture where certain magicks were banned? Was transforming regular people without magic through a contract illegal or someth-

"Avery." They jumped in their seat, suddenly aware of the officer who had taken up station in front of them, her steel gray eyes staring through theirs with the same intensity that made Avery feel like a kid again who was about to be scolded by their parent. She didn't look angry at least which was a good thing, just intense. "You know who he was talking about, don't you?" Her voice had softened, sounding like someone who was guilting another into doing what they wanted.

Avery couldn't help but let out a deep sigh and slouch into the seat, looking at their hands again. "...He...he talked about my boss. He said he was looking for my boss, but couldn't find them so he went after me to send the message." Their voice had gone quiet, it felt like their throat was slowly closing and it was getting harder to speak.

"Could you tell us your boss's name? Where you work?" Her voice was still soft, not pushing too much or sounding too stern thankfully. She sounded genuinely worried for them, even if she actually wasn't, it still felt nice.

"I...work at a cafe, it's near where you arrested that guy who was bothering me and my... _friend_ Finley. My boss's name is Graves. You might have to stay a while, he's in and out of the cafe a lot, and he's been practically missing recently." The dark haired cop was writing in a notepad now, while the blonde one in front of them was still staring at them.

"You said he's been missing a lot recently? Do you think he knew the attacker was nearby?" Avery shrugged in response, but they had thought about it recently.

"Well...he never told us anything was wrong, but I kinda got an idea something was up, ya know? One day when I was heading to work, I ran into Graves next to a pile of rusted garbage. The alley walls were almost covered in the stuff! I asked him about it and he said he knew who it was from, but couldn't do anything to stop it. At the time I had let it go, but looking back on it now it seemed almost like a...warning?" They glanced at the officer in front of them and she nods. "I think the guy who attacked me...he had a...thing with rust." They couldn't help but wince, it sounds really weird when they have to cut out the whole magic part of it, but could only hope the blonde officer could piece it together.

The officer in the back writes a few more lines before closing the note pad and putting it in her back pocket. The one in front of them just nods again and stands straight again. She looks down at Avery, then the paramedics at their feet. "How are they? Are they fit to walk?"

The second paramedic stands up to answer her. "Yeah, none of their wounds are severe and the ankle is only sprained. It'll hurt, but not for too long."

The other man nods along and the cop motions for them to go. They take a second to grab their things and are gone out the other door before Avery can actually thank them for helping. The blonde officer motions to her partner and says something too fast for Avery to pick up besides "car" and suddenly Avery is alone with the female officer.

Avery tried to subtly look around for the older woman, but she seemed to have vanished while they were talking.

"Hey." Avery looks up to the officer and their unnerved at how hard the woman's eyes seemed to become. "I need you to tell me _everything_ you left out now that the others are gone."

Avery's face blanched at that. Was it really obvious that they were hiding something?

 _'Well, at least I don't have to guess if she's the witch or not...'_

"W-well, he does have a rusted bat. I think it has something to do with his magic, because when I tried to run he got my foot caught in what looked like _rust_. He...didn't have anything sharp. He used his rust, at least I'm pretty sure it was rust, to cut through my clothes." Her face was still as hard as before, and she didn't seem ready to give anything away.

"Did you actually use a bottle to get away from him?"

"Y-yeah." She just snorts, wait, _snorts_?

"How, is your magic related to glass?"

 _'Wow, didn't think she'd be this blunt.'_

"Well...s-sort of." She just raises an eyebrow in response that doesn't help the growing ball of panic that's growing in Avery's gut _at all_.

"Sort of?" Their cheeks are getting hot. Avery hoped her response wouldn't be as bad as Finley's when she found out Avery's magic was tied to _trash_ of all things.

"It's...g...garbage related..."

A sudden sound startles Avery, but luckily it's not glass shattering or someone yelling. It's the lady in front of them...laughing? Not full blown bust-a-gut laughter but a chuckle someone would make if they said a corny joke.

"H-hey! I-I mean, "Hey"." She stops chuckling immediately and looks them in the eye, and suddenly Avery's lost all confidence. "I'm not..uh, ya know, in trouble or anything...right?" The officer's eyebrow shoots up and she looks more offended than anything.

"Listen kid, you're not in trouble. I may be a witch, but I'm first and foremost a cop, and you're a victim of assault and attempted rape. The last thing you are is in trouble."

Avery can't help but wince at _that_ word. It was just so... _cold_. It put a lot of things into focus about what happened.

"So...what happens now? Can I go back to my...friends, please?" The officer nods and folds her arms while taking a few steps back to look down the hall towards something.

"Yeah, you can go back to your coven. We'll drop you off. We already got your statement so we'll be in touch if we find him. Do you have someone that has first aid knowledge?"

 _'coven?'_

"Y-yeah. There's someone I know that has experience." She nods again and steps up to them again while offering a hand. Avery accepts it but what surprised when they wrapped their arm over her shoulders.

"Come on, kid. Your ankle is still sprained, so i'll give you a hand. Mica brought the car around, so let's get you out of my grandmother's house."

Avery smiles in what feels like the first time in days, and shambles out of the living room, who's incense had died off leaving only whispers of smoke behind.


	6. A Ride Home

By the time Avery was helped into the police car, the street had emptied to only a few scragglers. The sun had mostly set, and the moon was visible in the sky. _'A crescent moon'_ Avery thought to themselves as they were handled into the back of the cop car with care. The black haired cop, Mica, was in the drivers seat.

The inside of the police cruiser had been personalized in the front area. A few knick-knacks were placed around the front, a "smiley" handbrake, what looked like birds' feet hanging from the rearview mirror, to what grabbed Avery's attention the most: A picture that sat on the front dashboard that contained the blonde cop, and what looked like the most gothic kid ever. They were a bit far to see the whole thing in clear view, but they could make out the black cloak the kid wore, and the uniform the officer wore that clashed with the woman's bright blonde hair. At the bottom of the photo, scribbled in slanted, fancy writing sat four words.

"To Gina,  
From Asmodeus"

Avery had to roll their eyes at the definitely self-named young man. As their eyes landed on the photo again they could see, with some squinting, a bright smile on the woman's face and a hesitant, awkward smile on the kid's face. He reminded them of a younger, more intense Graves with the whole gothic look.

As their eyes continued to roam, they were slightly disappointed to see that the back was clear of any mementoes. _'It's understandable'_ , they thought, _'they probably don't want any memories to be ruined by someone they arrested.'_ It was the first time that they had sat in the back of a police car. Avery hadn't really been a kid that would break the law, or break it in a place that could get them arrested. They hadn't really seen a point to doing anything illegal, and had also been a bit too lazy to actually do it.

 _'Wonder if that Asmodeus kid has ever been back he-'_

 _*SLAM*_

Avery was pulled from their thoughts by the jarring sound, only to see the blonde cop sitting in the shotgun seat with her body turned to face Avery. Her face had melted back into the calm stoic look she had worn when they first met.

"We'll be dropping you off with your 'friends' at the cafe, Mica made sure to call ahead to let them know we'll be dropping you off. However, I'll be going in first to make sure it's safe for you while Officer Mica stays here in the car so you're not left unattended in case your attacker is there. Any questions?" Her tone never changed beyond blunt, but Avery didn't feel like she was being overly curt with them.

"N-no questions ma'am." They finished with a lame smile, but the cop, "Gina", just nodded at them and turned back to face the front of the cruiser. Mica grabbed the Smiley handbrake and push it downwards, and suddenly they were moving. The headlights were on despite the visible sunset from Avery's left, but they chalked it up to some driving rule you needed to learn.

The car wasn't moving at a very fast pace, a needle bouncing above the twenty-five mark, but they didn't get the feeling they were going slow. Despite the situation they found themselves in, Avery could see Gina turning her head with the intensity of a hawk, from moving people to something that elluded Avery's vision. Mica's head never strayed from what was in front of the car, but Avery had a feeling she was just as aware of what was going on.

 _'S...should I ask about the others? Is it inappropriate to talk to a cop while they're driving?'_

"O-o...Officer Mica?" Their voice was still hoarse, and Avery wished for a moment that their had been related to water, and not trash.

"What d'ya need, kid?" She didn't turn to face them, but she tilted her head a bit to continue which was nice in Avery's opinion.

"H-how much did you tell my friends?"

"I left most things in the dark, just letting them know that you were in our custody and that you were in stable condition. Everything else is up to you kid." She gave a small shrug before making a turn onto a street, a street Avery recognized as the one holding the convenience store that Mason's grandpa owned!

Avery sat up in their seat, not minding the ache that had developed from the bruise on their back. Taking a moment to look over themselves, they were indecisive to see that their clothes had been changed. Before shambling out of the old lady's home, they had been accosted by her who had decided that Avery needed new clothes, something they agreed with.

What had torn them up about it was the fact that they were wearing Officer Gina's old clothes. The old lady had pulled them out of storage while saying how the Officer had lived with her for a short time before she had graduated high school, something that had made the officer actually look a bit embarrassed at.

After a bit of looking through it, Avery had settled with an old gray jacket with loose black pants. The jacket had poofy sleeves, reminding them of Reese's father's brand of clothing. They weren't checkered, but it didn't bother them any.

The reason they felt torn up about it was frankly how embarrassed they felt about the situation. They knew they shouldn't have, but it was hard not to feel awkward and self-conscious about it since they were wearing another person's clothes. Someone who was practically a stranger didn't help matters.

Putting the clothing out of their mind for now, they ran their hands over their knees where they could feel the pristine bandages that the paramedics had put on their injuries. Their elbows had gotten some just to be safe, while their head wound had only warranted a large bandage. Their ankle would heal up relatively soon thankfully, but for now they'd have to make sure to take it easy.

After Officer Mica made another turn, Avery could finally see the cafe in the distance at the street corner, the lights on. Just seeing the lights made Avery's chest move easier, it looked safe.

 _'If it looks safe, then the others must be safe too!'_ Their foot started bouncing in place, but an ache from their ankle made them stop. The street was different from the alley that Avery used to walk to work. The alley ended at the turn that held the cafe, while the street was coming from the opposite direction. The street was thankfully free of rusted trash, something Avery was pleasantly surprised about.

 _'Wait.'_ Their small excited smile that had been growing since they saw the cafe, immediately fell. _'If he put rusted junk in the alley, why didn't he put that stuff on the sidewalks too? Would it bring too much attention into what he was doing or something?'_

Thankfully they wouldn't have to worry about it for too long, because suddenly they were pulled from their thoughts by the police cruiser stopping in front of the cafe. Avery's restlessness manifested again, this time in their fingers bouncing against their thighs as they watched Gina step out of the car and walk into the cafe.

The cafe had a few customers in it, but was largely empty. It was right before closing time, a time when Avery would either help with cleanup, or be "busy" with one of the other workers. Tonight, Avery could see only Landry at the front, and they had to cover their mouth with their hand to keep themselves from crying out.

He looked awful. The normally bright and sunny man had been replaced seemingly overnight. His normally bright eyes were dulled and bloodshot, with bags even Avery could see from outside the cafe. He was slouching heavily over the counter, and the only moving part of his body seemed to be his hand which was drumming a rapid beat into the counter.

At the moment, all Avery felt like doing was getting out of the car, going in there, and hugging their giant boyfriend. But just as Avery's fingers reached the handle of the car door, they stopped as the feeling of cold ice washed over their shoulders and down their back, threatening to choke them where they sat.

 _'What if_ he's _here? Maybe he's just been waiting for me to come back! If he couldn't find me, then maybe he would go back to where he knew I would go? If Graves was still out there somewhere, am I still on his list?'_

They tried to grab the door handle, but they just couldn't bring themselves to actually open the door and step out into the emptying streets. Their thoughts continued to spiral into a darkening abyss, and their hand fell to wrap around their body as tight as they could, hoping that their physical presence would calm them down. How long would it go on like this? Avery feeling like, at any moment, the witch could come back into their life and take them away from the others, or take away one of the others from their life. Was it ever going to end, or would Avery be forced to spend the rest of their life watching every step they took, looking for an attacker that might not even be there? An attacker that could manifest as he pleased, who could overpower Avery at any given moment?

As Avery curled their body tighter around itself, they missed the knowing glance the remaining officer shot them before she turned back to face the street to check all of the passersby. As they curled more and more into their darkening thoughts, they missed the way Landry shot up when the cop entered the cafe, they missed the way his mouth began moving a mile a minute before Gina quickly put a stop to whatever he had been saying. They missed the flinch that shot through Landry's body from the officer's curt reply, before he turned to the remaining customers and told them they had to leave.

They missed the sight of the customers hurrying out of the store, avoiding any possible encounter between the cop and the tall man. They missed the sight of Landry looking out through the windows to the cruiser to where they sat, his eyes searching all over for any sign of them, only for despair to fill his eyes as the black tinted windows repelled all of his attempts to see them again.

Most of all, they missed the sight of a pair of mismatched eyes watching them from the closest alley, the blue eye filling with an emotion akin to sadness while the yellow eye seemed to burn with anger and aghast at the sight in front of them. They missed the sight of both eyes filling with despair, before the eyes vanished from sight as the figure moved towards the alley alongside the cafe.


	7. Settling Doubts

At some point in their panicked state, they must have missed whatever happened between Officer Gina and Landry because by the time they finally looked up again to the cafe, all of the windows' blinds had been drawn cutting off their line of sight into the cafe. The only thing visible through the blinds were little rays of light from the interior that reached the edge of the sidewalk. From where they sat, Avery could only see little blobs of movement from the inside.

 _'Why did they close the blinds? Is there something they don't want me to see? Are they scared that whatever happened will affect them in some way? Are they...upset? At me? Am I...becoming too much trouble to deal with? They...probably are. They must be upset at how bothersome I'm turning out to be. I don't blame them, I'm just causing them...more trouble by being here.'_ Avery angrily wiped at the tears that were running down their cheeks, smearing dirt and tears across their skin.

How could they be so _dense!?_ Of course they were upset! They were in the middle of some weird web relationship thing, with some awkward nineteen year old klutz who couldn't decide which one of them they liked more! Being with Avery had only brought them trouble, like that creep that went after Finley, or the guy from last night. He had gone after _them_ because he thought they were Graves's apprentice. Them, not the others. They were probably talking about which best way to tell Avery they didn't want to be with them anymore. That being with Avery was too difficult to manage, or how Avery's problem with big things got in the way like it always had. Their problem that had turned their nickname into Avery the Flake. The others were probably so sick of th-

"Grey."

The officer's voice cut through their mental condemnation causing them to start in their seat, their hands still on their face as they tried to hide their tears and choked sobs. By the time they wiped their eyes enough to see clearly, they could see the woman had turned in her seat, facing Avery with one arm still on the steering wheel with the other holding a tissue. The office merely held it out to them, gesturing it to them.

Avery sniffled as they took the tissue with a nod of thanks, wiping their eyes and cheeks thoroughly before blowing their nose quickly. After wincing at the mess of dirt, tears and mucus, they hesitantly handed it back to the lady who accepted it without batting an eye before putting it in some side compartment on her door.

"Don't know what's going through your head, but you need to calm down alright? 's not your fault what happened to you. You were attacked by someone, that makes it their fault, not yours. Your friends may treat you a bit differently at first, but that's how everyone acts at first." Avery nodded along, but the office kept her gaze up, staring them in the eyes long enough for them to break sight and turn away to face the cafe again.

"I-it's nice for you to say that...thank you. But...that's not wrong right now. I-I mean, it kind of is, b-but not...y'know...the reason I'm like this..." They waved a hand around their face to illustrate their point. The officer made a noise of acknowledgement, but nothing more. After a moment of silence, Avery managed to turn their head back to Officer Mica, and she nodded once to continue.

"I-it...It's just...I'm really cl-close to the others at my job. I-I'm worried that they won't...won't want anything to do with me now. I-I feel like all I'm doing is bringing them trouble by being here, an-and I'm worried that the others are...are tired of being _around me_! I'm...scared! I'm scared that...they'll leave me by myself or that they'll want _me_ to leave so they don't have to deal with me any more..." Avery's voice gradually grew softer as it become more shaky. They shook their head and pressed their palms into their eyes, trying to stop the flow of tears before it could cause another stream to flow down their face again while ducking their head away from the officer who was sure to be annoyed at their ramblings. It wasn't her job to hear some kid talk about their problems.

"You said you were close to the others you work with. You care about them? Like, _really_ care about them?" She had turned away to face the cafe by the time Avery bought their head back up. Avery turned to face the cafe as well, and saw the silhouettes already there joined by many more figures.

"O-of course I care about them!"

"And they feel the same way about you?" One of the forms was moving much more than the others, looking at some points like it was about to walk right out of the cafe before it hurried back to the others,

"I...I like to think so..." They weren't sure if it was just their emotions or just the amount of talking they were doing, but Avery had to swallow to try and keep their throat from hurting too much. It had crept up on them back at the old lady's house, and it was subtely getting harder and harder to talk as time went on.

"Then don't worry about it." Avery turned back to face the woman in front of them so fast parts of their neck ached, but decided that ignoring pain was something they would have to do a lot more of.

"What?"

"Don't worry about it. You care about 'em, and they care about you. If any of 'em are worth their salt, they won't have to think twice 'bout being with you. If they do..." Her gaze met theirs with such an intensity, such steel, that Avery had to wonder if she'd been through the same thing before. "...they're not worth it."

"I don't know...are you sure about this?" It didn't feel that simple. It felt like there was always something, something that could drive them away. That if they acted a certain way, or acted too much like _themselves,_ it would drive the others away.

"I'm certain. You obviously care a lot about them, and you don't seem like a bad kid, Grey. I'd trust your judgement." She shrugged and turned back to face the front after giving her thoughts.

 _'If she's going to be so forthright, might as well answer some questions while I can.'_

 _"_ Excuse me, Ms. Mica?" The woman hummed in response while gesturing with her hand towards them. "Is Officer Gina really making sure it's safe in the cafe?"

 _'Is that a dumb question?'_ The look Mica gave them told them that it was.

"Course she is! She's making sure none of the others are accomplices in what happened, and making sure your attacker isn't on the premises."

"B-but wouldn't that clue them in on what happened?" Avery wasn't sure why they were so uncomfortable with the others finding out what happened. Was it not about someone who wasn't them telling the others what had occurred the night prior?

She shook her head once. "Gina has a nice...touch to what she does. She'll do it in a way that they'll know _something_ happened, but not what exactly happened. It'll help if one of them is an accomplice to see if they'll flub up an answer."

 _"_ If one of them is an accomplice..."None of the others could be an accomplice, right? If they were...everything they'd done together... Avery shook their head while brushing a few strands of hair behind their ear. "...I can't imagine one of the others as having a hand in...this."

"A lot of people never do, Grey." Mica turned to face the front again, and Avery decided to stay quiet, their throat felt like it was getting worse. Idly rubbing the back of their neck with their hand, they looked out the window towards the setting sun, the rays almost completely gone now, leaving the sky a mix of a deep purple and dark blue. Towards the sun, at the farthest reaches of the horizon, a gentle shade of orange was casting its light over a few of the taller buildings in the city. It looked quite pretty, and Avery was once again reminded of their dead phone and the inability to take a picture of the sunset.

Taking their phone out from 'their' pocket, they leisurely ran their thumb over the screen, taking off a few specks of dust and lint that had collected on the edges. Maybe it'd be a good idea to get a case? It cost some money, but there should be some cheap suitable ones online or at the convenience store right? There was more at the store than food from what they remembered, a few knick knacks or something. Maybe Hayes would go with them? They could look for a special mug or something that he'd like. Maybe a book on poems! They still had the poem he had given them before in their pocket, it was nice to read when Avery was home alone before they went to bed. His skills with people may have been somewhat low, and his anxiety certainly didn't help, but he certainly had a way with words.

Avery was torn from their thoughts quite suddenly by movement in their peripheral vision, which turned out to be...Officer Gina! She was walking out of the cafe with a calm look on her face, but that didn't stop the deepening feeling of panic as she walked closer to the cruiser. Maybe she was just keeping a straight face for Avery's sake? Maybe the others didn't want anything to do with them anymore!

Gina reached the car faster than Avery would've liked, slowly opening the car door and leaning her head into the car with a small smile on her face.

"Come on, kid. Your friends are waiting for you." She offered her hand to them, a welcome invitation for Avery to go inside, right now, and see the others. But...if it was so easy...why couldn't they bring themselves to take her hand?

A moment passed between them. And another...

Gina raised an eyebrow at them before stepping into the backseat, taking the seat next to Avery, who still backed themselves up a bit to give her extra space.

"What's the matter Grey?"

Avery could feel their face burn in shame as they turned to look at their hands in their lap. "It's just...are you sure they _really_ want to see me?" Despite Mica's advice, they couldn't shake that cloak of paranoia that had settled over them like heavy metal, threatening to push them down where they stood. What if they were just pretending to want to see them while the police were here?

But what if they _were_ serious about wanting to see them? Avery would've just been scared and paranoid over nothing! Everything they had built together, one and all, and Avery was willing to bet it all on a few bad feelings? Would the others feel betrayed that Avery doubted them so easily? The feeling in their gut was only getting heavier, and Avery had to wonder if they continued to sit and let it fester, if they would sink through the car eventually.

Was there a correct way to go about this? Ignore all their feelings and throw themselves to their loved ones? Sit in guarded solitude until they manage to bring down Avery's walls?

They were pulled from their thoughts by the sight of Gina, smiling softly at them while placing her hand softly on Avery's shoulder. She looked less like a cop on a job, and more like a friend giving a helping hand.

"Avery! They're _dying_ to see you. They more than once almost ran me over to go out and see you! I tried to leave it as vague as possible, only letting them know that you were found in an old woman's home, tired and injured. I had to instruct them on how they should act when we bring you in, keeping a respectful distance and such. They won't touch you unless you want them to, okay?" Her voice never wavered above the same gentle tone, the same tone she used back at her grandmother's house just before they left.

 _'I...I have to trust the others!'_ Avery nodded in resolution at Gina, who nodded back with a smile before stepping out of the cruiser and offering her hand, which was quickly accepted by Avery's. With a steady heave, Gina pulled them out of the car onto the empty sidewalk. As their feet met the cold concrete, they couldn't help the surge of fear that pushed through them from being out in the open. They were practically defenseless, and the sun had mostly set in between Avery's conversation with the police officers.

 _'No! I-I have to. I need to see them again, to make sure they're okay!'_ Squashing the festering ball of panic in their gut, they nodded once to themselves as Gina wrapped one of Avery's arms over her shoulders and began to walk them to the front door. The figures from inside had shifted out of sight, or probably too far away from the window for Avery to see them. Gina had said that they'd keep a respectful distance unless Avery said otherwise, so they guessed that the others had gone to sit at the couch at the center of the room, or went onto the second floor to give them plenty of space maybe?

Movement from the corner of their head made them look away from the cafe, only to see Mica take up the spot on their left, walking by their side as she stuffed the car's keys in her pocket. Looking up at them, Mica gave them a reassuring grin.

"It'll be alright, kid. They'll understand...Just need to trust them."

Trust. Yeah, just a little bit of trust.

Avery nodded back and turned to eye the door that they were slowly approaching. It wouldn't be too bad, right? The-they were just overthinking things! The others cared about them, they had all proven it. Like...Hayes's poem, and Mason teaching them to cook! What the others had done with them, they had shown that they cared. They might've been dense, but even Avery couldn't deny the feelings they felt when they kissed one of them. Landry, Reese, Hayes, Finley, and Mason, they had all shown that they cared! They had helped them when they were going through something, and Avery had helped the others when they needed it! Whether it was spending time with Hayes when he was too worked up to interact with others, or being there to help Finley deal with problems when they came up. Helping Reese with his magic, or simply being there when he was being insecure.

None of them had turned Avery away, or showed hesitation in caring about Avery. Would something like this really break them apart, or would it just be another bump in the road?

 _'Just...gotta have some faith.'_

With a tired sigh, Avery straightened their back somewhat as they reached the double glass doors. Inside, the cafe was void of any people besides the cats that were lounging around the place. The crescent couch was was empty, and Avery couldn't see any of the others on the second floor either.

"W-where...?" Their throat hurt with every letter that left them, so they decided to keep their speaking to a minimum. Gina seemed to understand what they meant as she walked Avery into the cafe while Mica held the door open for them thankfully.

"They're in the back, didn't want to rush you all at once in case it made you feel worse. They were planning on sending one of them out at a time, but were still deciding who would be the first to meet you when I left." Gina nodded her head to the door that led to the kitchen, and for a brief moment Avery caught the sight someone's head in the window on the door before they flashed out of sight.

" 's okay..." They were walked through the cafe until they reached the couch in the center of the room facing away from the door that led to the kitchen. They were eased gently onto the couch with their ankle resting on top of one of the couch pillows. After making sure Avery's foot was comfortable, Gina took a step back and beckoned Mica over, who had taken up a post near the front doors.

"Alright then, Mica, could you go let them know it's safe for all of them to come out?" Mica nodded once and went to the back, making sure to walk completely through the doorway to cut the line of sight between Avery and the kitchen.

"Hey." Avery looked over to the remaining officer who had stepped behind the couch, standing over them while still having an air of safety. "If the suspect tries to attack you again, or if you see him walking around, or if you even _think_ you see him again, call us and ask for me. Most witches try to stay out of sight and keep what they do a secret. most, but not all. It's why I'm always available, gotta keep the number of people who know about this kind of stuff to a minimum, right?"

Avery nodded in response. It made sense, every time something magic related happened around the cafe, Officer Gina was always right behind it. She had never stated that she knew something magical had just happened, but always seemed capable of dealing with it without question.

"Why so...?" Avery waved their hands around a bit, gesturing the cafe and to themselves. Why was she being so helpful? It didn't seem like a cop's responsibility to care so much over some klutzy kid. From what Avery remembered from those cop dramas from when they were a kid, the cops would just get there and keep watch until the paramedics came to take the victim away.

At first, Gina merely raised an eyebrow in confusion before something clicked as Avery gestured to their body. "Why am I being so helpful?" Avery nodded. "Cause you need it. Paramedics already got you mostly patched up, so there's no need for a hospital. we already got your statement, and all officers have on body cameras so we don't have to record your statement down at the station. And don't worry, I set up some charms so the cameras don't pick up anything magic related, so what I'm saying right now won't be picked up." She gestured to her shoulder, right where her shirt collar ended, and Avery could see a small flash of black metal that was quickly covered by the shirt once again.

"I may be a witch, but I'm first and foremost a cop. It just helps that the two have a lot of things that intertwine." Gina squared her shoulders and placed her hands on her hips, looking every bit the model cop Avery had imagined them to look like when Avery was a kid. They couldn't help but smile at the display. Gina didn't seem finished however as she rested one of her hands on the cushion next to their head, meeting Avery's eyes.

"And listen, if you ever decide that this place doesn't seem...safe...then let me know. I can drop you off at either the station or the hospital if you need me to. They're both warded against attackers, given the number of witches in the area. Sometimes witches want to try and finish a duel before the other has a chance to recuperate."

 _duel..._

Avery bit their lip as they nodded, turning away to face the window in front of them across the room, showing the dark sky that housed the crescent moon they had seen earlier. Were duels like, an official thing? Their attacker had said that they would have dueled if Avery could have broken themselves out, but what was the whole freezing their foot with rust thing? Was that not part of a duel? Did they have to sign anything before dueling, or was it just a fancy term in place of fighting with magic? Could someone like, just pop out of nowhere and just...like...suckerpunch them or something and call it a duel?

The sound of a door opening made them stop thinking about witches popping out of random spots to fight someone, and look back to the kitchen to see Officer Mica walking out towards them with an unreadable expression on her face.

"They'll be out in a minute." Mica reached Gina and both of them looked to Avery once more.

"Alright kid," Gina was the one to start talking this time. "It's time for us to head out, gotta report this down at the station. Anything you need before we leave?"

Honestly, Avery really needed some water, but asking more of them just made Avery feel bad so they shook their head a bit.

"Okay then, stay safe, Grey." With that, the police left with little fanfare, merely looking back at them before they walked out the door to flash Avery an encouraging smile, before closing the door behind them and walking back to the car.

"Avery?"

Avery had to grab the couch to keep themselves from falling off, the gasp that tore through their throat certainly hurt as much as they thought it did. While placing a hand on their throat to try and alleviate the discomfort, they turned to face their side, and found the others there.

A moment passed between them all, silence stretching between them like a stretched string, taut with tension until something could cut it. In this case, it would be someone's voice.

"Avery..." The first to break the silence was Reese, who looked like he was about to collapse where he stood. His eyes had tears in them, outlined by visible bags under his eyes.

And suddenly, as if no time had passed, they were surrounded by the others. Mason stood behind them, with Reese and Hayes on one side and Finley and Landry on the other.

"'s okay...not gonna break..." Their throat was really hurting, but they forced the words out with as much sincerity as they could. At first, nobody moved. It worried Avery, so they tried to sit up straighter, only to feel hands on their shoulders, looking up they found Mason standing over them. Trying to smile at them with tears in her eyes, Mason gently pushed them back against the couch while muttering a "relax..."

"Yeah, you really should relax. It's okay." It was Finley who spoke next, reaching with her hand to take Avery's, followed quickly by Landry who did the same. Across the pair Reese and Hayes did the same with Avery's other hand. hayes held their fingers, while Reese held their palm with his whole hand, rubbing their knuckles with his thumb. Behind them, Mason was rubbing Avery's jaw softly with her thumbs, tracing it while cupping Avery's cheeks gently, as if afraid that at any moment, they would shatter into pieces under her hold.

"Y-you don't have to talk about what happened...we're here for you, Avery. E-every one of us...all of us..." Hayes's words were slow, quiet, but full of emotion like always. Avery tried to smile, but could only give a weak one in response as they tried to blink away their tears that were already starting to fall.

"T-thank you...all of you. I..." They tried to say more, but Avery had to stop due to the hiccup as they unsuccessfully tried to stop themselves from crying again. A moment later, they opened their eyes to see the group around them lean over Avery. Like little butterflies, but each with their own twist, Reese, Landry, Hayes, Finley, and Mason all slowly placed little kisses on Avery. Mason had cupped their face and was leaving little kisses along their cheeks, dabbing at their tears with her own lips.

"He's right...all of us...we're here for you, Avery. And _nothing_ is pushing us away."


	8. Paranoia

_Swirls of colors and faded faces shot passed their vision and into the dark abyss that seemed to surround them. Rusted buildings and towering silhouettes. Hooked hands reaching from everywhere, pulling them in different directions. An encroaching darkness, sucking light away like an abyss._

 _Pressure. Holding them down like a predator that had trapped its prey. Changing pressure, the man, standing there in front of them with his gloved hand wrapped around their throat, pushing them to the ground as pain shot up their legs. Cold moving up, stealing their control, freezing their limbs in place._

 _They cried out as tears endlessly flowed down their cheeks. Half their vision became obscured in red, the other half watching the man's dark colored eyes cloud over in a light brown, rust covering them as lines crossed around his eyes._

 _Pain, shooting through their limbs like fire. Encroaching cold following after. Sounds of shattering glass, bodies falling the pavement under them. Their weight being pushed more and more against it, cracking and breaking it before they were pushed through. The familiar abyss that sat under them, tendrils reaching up to them. Shadow covered limbs reaching from behind them to grip their shoulders, stilling their attempts to pull away. Pulling them down, wind screaming passed sounding like words and phrases._

 _"_ _ **Avery.."**_ _Cold like ice, stabbing their ears. Seeping cold, holding their limbs in place. They screamed, pulling against the weight settling on them. Movements jerking, pulling and pushing every which way. Lights shining in their eyes, burning them as they tried to look away._

 _"_ _ **Relax..."**_ _Green eyes in place of rusted ones. White hair that changed to a soft pink. Mason's harsh gaze and passive face. Flashes of color, burning metal against their neck. More screaming._

 _"_ _ **It's okay..."**_ _Pink hair lengthening, darkening as they slithered toward them. Turning black and blonde as they creeped along their face, spreading the cold. Finley's annoyed face peering at them in place of Mason's. Growing pressure at their neck as pointed nails stabbed into them._

 _"I_ _ **t's for the best...**_ _" Tendrils dissipating as blonde overtook black. Hand burning their neck, the cold reaching their shoulders. They screamed and cried and tried to pull away. Not moving despite how hard they struggled. The abyss around them pulsing as it seemed to encroach closer and closer, flashing with mixes of rusted brown, yellow, green and red. Hayes empty eyes filling their vision as cuts from falling glass spread across his face._

 _"_ _ **You're too dangerous to be with..."**_ _Landry's face glaring at them, face split by a grimace. His green shirt collar turning rusted as lines of it spread up his neck. Another hand on them, followed by another at each shoulder. Pressure behind them, but they couldn't turn to see. Impending reunion, like someone reading over their shoulder._

 _"_ _ **Let go..."**_ _Wind billowing from behind them again. A void appearing in front of them, behind Reese's rusting face spewing purple and black shades. More hands, pushing against them with growing force. Behind them, the familiar sound of metal on metal. A bat hitting a home run. Laughter like venom stabbing their back. Pain, stabbing their back, building._

 _Winds changing, their view changing as their body turned. The man standing there, his eyes rusted shut as he reached for them, one hand holding his bat. The hand reaching for them was rusted as well._

 _Hands settling against their back. They turned, taking in the sight of the others standing there with various expressions._

 _"_ _ **We already have..."**_ _A push, and they're sent careening to the man in front of them. The others' various forms swirling together like shadows until they became one form. Disappearing into flakes that were carried away by the wind._

 _His hand reached for them, pressure building. They found their footing and backpedaled away from him. His feet moved like molasses, body in slow motion._

 _Running. Running. Running. Wind screaming passed them as walls lined up alongside them. Winding turns and dark alleys. Clutter flying around them, slamming into them and nearly bowling them over. Pain on their hands. They looked at their palms, and watched their skin flake away and float off. Red and bleeding. Bleeding. Bleeding._

 _Metal scraped against pavement, the man's footsteps drawing him closer no matter how much they ran. They started running again, turning into another alley._

 _The man's face peered at them from the wall next to their face. They turned to run again, only to feel hands wrap around their body. Rusty arms reaching through the wall, pulling them to him. Pulling. Pulling. Pulling. Screaming. Screaming. Screaming._

 _Crying._

 _Cryi_ ng.

Crying.

Avery shot up and nearly fell off the bed they had been sleeping on, turning to vomit off the side. Back arching as they retched, eyes clouded over as tears flowed a familiar path down. They gagged as stomach acid billowed up their throat and found itself on the bedroom floor, coating it in a nasty tan. Their throat burned as the acid met the sensitive flesh. The smell soon hit their nose, making them gag as they shut their mouth to keep the excess acid from coming out like the rest. Avery waited a moment, hovering over the edge of the bed in case. After a few tense seconds of silence Avery let themselves fall back onto the bed with an exhausted grimace while wiping at their cheeks.

 _'I should probably figure out whose bedroom I just threw up in.'_ Their immediate guess was Graves's bedroom considering his apartment was above the cafe. Add to the fact that Avery didn't think that the others would be able to move Avery to one of their own apartments. Looking around the dimly lit room confirmed as much, the minimalistic yet gothic decor simply radiating Graves's style. A dresser with a few photographs, a full length mirror, and a large ornate grandfather clock. They spotted the bedroom door soon after. Cracked open, it was spilling the only light that was in the room, leaving a small area of visibility that led to the living room, from what Avery was guessing.

The room was quiet now, only interrupted by the uniformed ticking of the clock. No sound came in from the doorway, so Avery was either alone, or anyone in the other room was asleep. Fighting back a yawn, they curled in on themselves, trying to enjoy the last semblance of comfort while they could. The bed was surprisingly nice, considering it wasn't the coffin Avery guessed Graves slept in. Didn't mean he didn't have one, just that he had a bed in his apartment. Soon however, they couldn't deny the acrid scent that was wafting through their nose. Scrunching their face, Avery tried to push out the scent while sitting up in the bed.

"...Should clean this mess up..." SIghing while languidly stretching, Avery made sure to breathe through their mouth otherwise they'd be seeing a repeat of a few moments ago. Their tears had subsided, but their throat was still a burning, foul tasting mess. Swallowing with a grimace, they turned their eyes on themselves, taking in their current outfit.

At some point during the past few hours, Avery had been stripped of their jacket...along with their shoes. Most likely after they had fallen asleep, but it was...kind of hard to remember what happened before they had fallen asleep. After Avery had reunited with the others, they had spent some time on the couch with them, and thankfully had gotten some water finally to help their sore throat. The rest between then and now was a jumbled mess, a mess that Avery let drift to the back of their mind, like floating debris on a calm lake or something.

 _'Ugh...water sounds really good right now.'_ Fortunately they weren't topless from what they could see. They were wearing a -to them- oversized sweater, made out of some fabric that felt _very_ nice against their skin. A lot better than concrete at any rate. Probably cotton, or maybe cashmere?

It was hard to see clearly with so little light, but the sweater was a dark color, a mix of two shades if the differing visible shades were any indicator. Who wore sweaters like these anyway? Was it Graves's as well? It was too big to be Reese's, Finley's or Hayes's. It could've been Landry's, but that would mean that someone had left the cafe to get it. Mason definitely didn't seem the type to wear sweaters, but what did Avery know? There was plenty they didn't know about the others.

Graves seemed like the obvious choice, but that gave them some...interesting questions. Had whoever changed their top asked Graves first, or had they simply used what they could since Graves was most likely gone? Had... _Graves_ changed their shirt!?

 _'Blegh, don't need an older guy taking off my clothes in my sleep.'_ Turning away from the awkward train of thought that was probably seconds away from crashing into the station, they stretched out their leg in front of them that had the bandage wrapped around their ankle.

Avery didn't know much about injuries, or the human body really, but their ankle was looking better than before. It wasn't as blue as before, and the swelling didn't seem so bad. It was still sore, they could tell that much without having to put any weight on it, but hopefully not at the level that it was before. The rest of their injuries weren't so debilitating, just some scraped skin and bruises.

Scooting themselves to the edge of the bed away from the spew, they gingerly rested their bandage wrapped foot on the carpeted floor. A dull ache resounded from their ankle, but it was debilitating thankfully. Putting their other foot down alongside the first, they made to stand up, only to hear the bedroom door open from behind them with a subtle squeak. well, it would have been subtle, if there had been any other sound to cover it up.

Turning to the door, Avery found a figure at the door, filling most of the doorway with their impressive height. For a moment Avery couldn't help the surge of panic that rooted them to the spot, remembering the figure of the man who had been there that night.

Thankfully, the figure turned out to be Graves, who was staring at the fluid staining his floor with a look of surprise and revulsion. His gaze moved to the bed, and then to them. The intensity of his stare had such force, such coldness, that Avery instinctively curled their body in on itself, ready for the flash of anger to overtake the man just like the other before him.

Fortunately for Avery, the coldness in Graves's stare soon melted, and his face grew a small, sad smile. His hand fell from the door, his feet pulling him back from the doorway. The shadow from the light covered his eyes from Avery's sight, but they could imagine the pity filled looking he was probably giving them.

"Is it alright if I come in?" His tone was soft, like he was talking to a misbehaving cat, or similar to what Avery remembered how their parents spoke to them, when they were little after they had fallen down.

Aver swallowed their nerves and hesitantly nodded back, their eyes tracking their boss's slow movement into the room. Every movement was slow, telegraphed...like someone trying to calm down a cornered animal. Graves slowly came to the bed, walking around to their side. His steps were soft, mixing in with the tick tocks of the clock.

As he moved to them, he always kept his arm in plain view, hands holding each other in front of him. It gave Avery a sense of...comfort, seeing that Graves was going to such lengths for them.

 _'He's not even acting that different from his usual gothic nerdy type, but the context behind_ why _...It's nice.'_ Despite his slow approach, he quickly reached them, coming to a stop a healthy ways out of arm's reach.

"Avery, is it alright if I help you to the bathroom? I will be sure to get one of the others to come to your side while I clean up the mess. Or if you'd like, you can remain here, and I will get one of the others immediately."

"N-no..." Avery swallowed, "I'm fine with you helping me...T-thanks." Graves took a slow step towards them, offering his arm to them when he came in reach. It was long enough that Avery hesitated once it came into reach, mulling over his offer as he stood there, stock still with his arm still extended. Silence stretched between them, Graves's eyes fixed on Avery with an unreadable expression, while Avery eyed his arm with unease.

After a few tense moments, Avery finally let out a weak breath and reached towards his arm with a shaky hand. His arm inched closer to help Avery, causing Avery's hand to recoil somewhat. They looked up guiltily to Graves, and he nodded to them in understanding and kept his arm still for them.

Finally, Avery's hands wrapped themselves slowly around Graves's arm, coiling at his elbow. Avery pulled themselves to their unsteady feet, noticing for the first time how sore their body was. It reminded them of the few times they had tried working out when they were younger. Initially, it wasn't so bad. Some fatigue, but nothing too serious. The next day however, always killed Avery. And today was no different.

Their legs popped in several areas as they stood up, leaving somewhat on Graves to keep their foot mostly off the ground. Fatigued pain echoed through their body, from their hands to their feet. thankfully, Graves was stronger than he looked, or at least stronger than Avery (not like it was hard), as he remained still as they pulled. After they came to to a stop, which several more cracks and pops from around their body, Avery nodded to Graves. He nodded at them with a calm smile, only enraging the feeling of shame in their gut as he slowly led them around the bed towards the bedroom door.

 _'Why am I so nervous around him? He didn't do anything to me, and he's only been nice to me so far! Just because the guy came looking for Graves doesn't mean it's totally his fault, right? Wait, crap! He doesn't even know what happened, none of them do! Should I tell him, or would that only make things worse?'_

 _'Back in the alley, he told me not to worry about it, and look where_ that _got me!'_ They sighed aloud as their thoughts conflicted with one another, but shook their head when Graves looked to them with an arched eyebrow. _'He had said that he had no way of stopping whoever was placing the rusted junk in the alley, so that means he knew the rust guy was around. Was...was that why he was usually gone so much? Hiding from the other man? But then why was he missing from the cafe so often, instead of always being_ here? _Was the cafe not safe enough? Were we used as shields so Graves could hide from the guy?'_

No way, Graves wasn't the most straightforward person they knew, but he didn't seem like the type of person to use innocents as shields.

 _'I say that now, despite the fact that I knew almost nothing about the guy. Well, besides the "XPIDERCOVEN" thing.'_ Avery managed to bite back the quiet giggle at the thought of Graves, seemingly in physical pain, as Reese quoted one of his band's songs.

Blinking to get back into focus, they found the living room passing them by as he walked them to the bathroom. The only source of light was above them, the dimmed white bulb hanging from the living space was as immaculate as ever, missing even the barest hint of waste. The kitchen light was off, leaving the living room with the only source of light. Outside, the sky was dark, littered with a few small stars here and there. The other buildings were dark, windows empty. The only other visible source of light was from the orange street lamps that were sparsely placed along the sidewalk. Inside, on the other side of the room, Avery could see the tired eyes of Dracula from the inside of the castle, sleepily peering at the both of them.

Briskly, yet slowly, Graves walked them to the side door that sat next to the one that led back to the cafe. Opening it with his free hand, he ushered them in while flicking on the light.

The inside was a pristine white, decorated with a large mirror above a marbled sink. A little cat clock peered back and forth at them from above the door, eyes swinging left to right while its' stomach glowed an orange set of numbers.

 _'4:30? I usually_ never _get up this early! Maybe I woke myself up by crying so much?'_ It made sense they supposed, that dream had been pretty freaky like the others they experienced whenever they managed to fall asleep.

How long would this last? Was there a time when their dreams became like...normal or something, or their nightmares stopped occurring? Did they have to like, defeat the guy who attacked them or something? Were they stuck with never-ending nightmares that would force them awake through crying or vomiting?

Their vision darkened forcing them to blink a view times to get back into focus, and found themselves staring at Graves as he backed up away from them. Looking around again, Avery found themselves sitting on top of the toilet with Graves standing in front of the bathroom door.

"Please wait here while I go fetch one of the others. Unless..you'd like to remain here by yourself?" He left the question open, raising an eyebrow at them as he backed out of the bathroom.

"No, it's fine..."

 _'I don't want to be alone...'_ that part remained unsaid, but Graves nodded regardless and walked out of sight towards the cafe door, leaving Avery alone to their thoughts.

 _'Do I tell them? Well, of course I should tell them, but how much? Would they be disappointed that I'm keeping so much from them? How would they react if they knew the guy that attacked me was looking for Graves? Would they turn on Graves, blame it on him?'_

 _'Shouldn't I tell Graves that the guy after him attacked me? What could that accomplish besides making him feel guilty? But wouldn't it let him know that he wasn't the only target?'_ Avery massaged their temples and groaned as a headache set in. Was there a right way to go about this? The last thing Avery wanted was to set tensions between the others, or knowingly hurt someone they cared about.

All the others turned into cats if they moved to far from the cafe except Graves, but he said that even he wasn't strong enough, what then? If they all stayed at the cafe, only a few of them knew magic. Reese and Landry knew a thing or two, and Avery had talked about it a bit with the others. Reese had that marker thing, and Landry knew more about magic than he let on, but that wouldn't be enough. What was stopping the guy from just...strolling into the cafe and taking it? Most likely the wards, but how long would they last? Were they relying on some sort of power source, or did they just have some magical time limit?

How long until the man came back to finish what he started?

 **Please leave a review and let me know what you think! See you in the next update!**


	9. recollection

**Sorry this took so long! I seem to be saying that a lot...**

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Avery didn't have to sit alone in the bathroom for too long before a form stepped into the bathroom, the white light spilling over the short figure. Their short blonde hair was messier than usual, spilling over the front of their head and partially covering Hayes's eyes from sight. His clothes were disheveled, his pink hoodie spilling out from under his sweater. Hayes's shoes were gone as well, replaced by gray socks.

What was Hayes doing at the cafe so early? Morning prep wasn't for another few hours, and the sun hadn't even come up yet!

"H-hey Avery." His voice sounded hoarse, more hoarse than usual anyway. It reminded Avery of when they'd cuddle together and Hayes would fall asleep on accident. Avery would always feel somewhat worried over Hayes so they'd let him sleep. Eventually he'd wake up or would wake Avery up if they had fallen asleep as well, and his voice would get that gravelly tone that Avery always found cute. He always reminded them of a sleepy kitten when they snuggled together, plus Avery didn't mind the cute blush that would spread across his cheeks.

"Hey." Their throat was starting to ache again but they tried not to let it show. They threw a smile on, but Hayes didn't look like he believed it. He stepped into the bathroom, his steps quiet as his sock covered feet hit the tiled floor. A flash of white made Avery look to his hands, to see a first aid kit in one with a fluffy towel in the other.

Hayes came to a stop just within arms reach of them, before setting the first aid kit down and walking over to the sink. He came back barely a moment later, the towel dampened. "Can I...?" He motioned to the towel stiffly, but Avery understood. They nodded and leaned forward on the seat while rolling back the sweater sleeves. Hayes carefully stepped close to them while bringing up the towel to brush it against Avery's cheeks. He dabbed at their skin, wiping the tear stains and flakes of dust and dirt that had accumulated there. He wiped at their lips and around, wiping a bit bile off the corner of their mouth. His hands were soft as he wiped their skin, each stroke careful around the bruises that marred Avery's face.

After wiping their face clean, he put the towel down and grabbed the first aid kit, pulling out a large bandage like the one on their face. Reaching upwards, his soft fingers lightly pulling at one end of the bandage. Avery bit their lip and took a deep breathe as Hayes nodded at them, before yanking off the bandage in one quick go.

Avery sucked in a breathe as their fingers dug into their thighs, watching Hayes throw away the old blood speckled bandage before he softly wiped at the cut with a clean damp part of the towel. He placed the bandage softly on the wound before pressing it against Avery's head while offering an apologetic look.

 _'At least it doesn't sting too much.'_ They brought a hand up to lightly press against the bandage while giving a comforting, or at least what could pass as comforting, smile to Hayes. His glossy blue eyes held a sense of disbelief with his mouth pressed into a nervous thin line, all the while checking the bandages on their elbows, adding to the feeling of guilt and shame that was burrowing in them.

 _'Hayes has enough trouble already with his anxiety and work, I shouldn't be bothering him with this.'_

"...Sorry you got woken up over this Hayes. You can go back to bed if you want! I'll just finish up changing the bandages." It would be as a good time as any to try and learn how to properly change bandages besides letting Hayes go back to sleep anyway, but the now kneeling young man was already shaking his head while unrolling more of the bandages.

"You're injured, and I'm qualified at changing bandages. None of these are very serious, but it's better if you have someone else to wrap them." He had finished changing the bandages on Avery's elbows and had moved his hands to Avery's feet. His hands started unrolling the bandage wrapped around their ankle first, his hand slowly turning and unrolling with a practiced ease that showed that he clearly knew what he was doing.

The bathroom drifted into uncomfortable silence as Hayes went to work rewrapping their ankle, never once looking up at them. Was Hayes upset with them not talking about what happened? Was he angry at them for waking him up so early? He didn't seem like the guy who'd get angry over that, but what did Avery know?

 _'Should I...talk to him about this? Ask him what's wrong?'_ Avery shook their head a little at that, it seemed like everything was going wrong except for things between Avery and the others. _'...How long are they just gonna let me stay quiet about this? They said I didn't have to tell them what happened, but for how long? Are they going to be angry at me for not talking about it?'_

"H-Hayes?" Their voice cut through that unwelcome wall of silence while making Avery jump at how unintentionally loud their voice had gotten. Hayes didn't seem any better off, visibly jumping at their voice.

 _'Crap.'_ Avery's cheeks flushed in embarrassment and shame as they looked away. Why did they always seem to mess things up!? He was probably just concentrating on wrapping their ankle, not simmering in anger about Avery not wanting to talk or whatever! Avery was probably the only one that thought the silence was uncomfortable, not a big surprise considering how stupid loud their voice was.

"Avery," Hayes's voice pulled them from their thoughts, pulling their eyes to his as he slowly wrapped their ankle in fresh bandages. After glancing down to make sure the bandage was wrapped correctly, he looked up to them again while wrapping his hand softly around theirs. "What is it?"

They forced a sigh out of themselves as they ran their thumb along Hayes's knuckles. They were just overthinking things right? It was like what Gina said, they just had to have a little faith.

"...Are..." Avery could feel their throat closing again, but the soft squeeze of Hayes's hand gave them enough comfort to swallow and keep going. "...Are you, or the others angry with me?"

His eyebrows twitched together, like he had both expected that question but hadn't. It didn't make a lot of sense the more Avery thought about it, but he replied faster than they expected so they buried the thought away for the time being.

"A-ah..." It was his turn to look nervous, but he didn't look away from them. "...While we can't be happy with how things are going, or what happened to you..." He squeezed their hand again to try and quell the rising tides in both their eyes. A snarky part of Avery almost knew it was pointless given how often they had been crying recently, but it was a small part of them and Avery gave it no thought. "...W-we're all just happy to see you back with us, safe and sound. If something worse had happened..." He didn't finish his sentence, but the tightening grip of his hand on theirs left his thoughts clear as day.

Avery couldn't stop their quiet sniffling as they tried to hold back their tears, so they settled by pulling Hayes's head to them and holding it against their chest. Gently, of course. His arms wrapped around their sides without gusto in return and Avery returned the favor by wrapping their arms around his head. They cradled his head to their chest and tried to stop the rising tears, mindful of not putting too much pressure on him.

When Hayes squeezed his arms just as tightly in return and didn't pull away, Avery finally released the breath they had been holding and let their body relax.

Hayes cared about them, but how long would that last? What if they did something that made him decide that they weren't worth his time? There were so many mistakes they could make, so many things they could do wrong that could turn him away.

 _'To hell with this, I'm gonna enjoy this while I can.'_ Avery let out a deep breathe and ran their fingers through their boyfriend's soft blonde hair, the short strands parting easily between their fingers-

- _Tendrils dissipating as blonde overtook black. Empty eyes staring at them as encroaching darkness spread around them-_

A shaky breath as Avery kept their cry quiet, coming out as some pathetic noise. They tightened their grip to keep Hayes from pulling away to see what was wrong. They didn't want him to worry anymore than he already had, so they forced the cry deep into their chest and let it dissipate into several shaky gasps.

Avery didn't want him to worry anymore. They wanted him to feel safe around them, like he could relax. How could they do that if they couldn't stop themselves from crying at nearly every little thing?

Notes:

 **I've had this on my laptop for what felt like two solid weeks! I'm really sorry I made you all wait so long and the fact that this is so short, but I didn't want to keep anyone waiting any longer. Fingers crossed it doesn't as long to update again...**


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